Baby's First Car Wash

Alexa's first time in a car wash was not the exciting event that I thought it would be. In fact, she was pretty freaked out about the whole thing. But at least now I know that she is adorable even while grimacing.

On a side note, look how good her cousin's little 4-wheeler looks on her:

I think red might be her color.

Left to Their Own Devices

Apparently the girls know me well enough to know that when I say I will open their new gum for them "in a minute," I don't really mean that it will only be a minute. And when that minute expires, they are forced to take matters into their own tentacles.

Savanna sure is handy with a pair of scissors. She didn't want to be in the picture; she was too busy chewing her gum in a dark corner.

How To Buy a House in AZ

A few weeks back, I was reading tips on a blog about how to move to New York City...you know, helpful hints on how much money to save before moving, how to find a job, where to look for an apartment, etc. I'm not sure why I was reading that particular post at that particular moment; I was probably supposed to be packing at the time. Anyway, reading that post made me think that I should use my recent experience to do the same kind of thing for people who are looking to buy a house in Phoenix right now. There are a few different ways you can do it, so just pick the one that works best for you.

Scenario 1:

Find a house that you like on realtor.com.
Decide that it could work really well for your family.
Discover that it is already under contract but that no one has updated that info on MLS.
Sigh.

Scenario 2:

Find a house that you LOVE.
Rush to see it the moment you can.
Put in an offer.
Get outbid.
Cry.

Scenario 3:

Find another house that you love.
Make an appointment to see it.
Prepare an aggressive offer even before the viewing.
Find out that another offer has been accepted
before you even get a chance to see it in person.
Cry again.

Get your Kleenex ready and prepare for discouragement, folks. Then follow these simple steps and you'll never be able to buy a house here.

Welcome to Arizona.

Moving Buddies

In the course of moving this time around, I have fallen in love with two invaluable companions.

Companion #1: Tape Gun. Seriously, how have I ever moved without one of these?

Companion #2: Vanilla Diet Coke from Sonic. Seriously, how have I ever moved without 25 of these?

On a side note, I had to laugh when I saw that the girls had their Barbie car packed up much the same way that our car will be shortly (minus the giraffe in the backseat). I love a little foreshadowing.

The Upside

Of course, living in a house that you are about to move out of does have some perks. Like caring a lot less about messes. And getting rid of stuff.

And having a wealth of boxes for the kids to put on their heads for an hour.

Oh, and doing things like this:

So, you see, it's not all bad.

Moving On

I am good at some things.

Moving is not one of them.

Which I why I am blogging instead of packing, like I should be.

Putting 5 years of my life into boxes is not easy. And, to make things even more fun, my old nemesis, "the grass is greener syndrome," has come back with a vengeance. (Okay, who am I kidding? He never really left.) Turns out, I start packing stuff in the kitchen and I find a good box for books, so I exit abruptly to start packing books in the den, leaving the bewildered contents of the cupboard strewn all over the counter. Etc., etc.

It will be a miracle if all of our belongings make it out of this house in the next two and a half weeks.

Our tiny family in late 2006 when we bought the house.

The current (sad) view from the front.

I keep looking around at our newly painted neutral wall color and thinking "this is not my house." But alas, for a few short more weeks it still is. And then life will carry us on another adventure (not too far from here, thank goodness) and I will weep and wail and gnash my teeth while I think about the amazing memories that I am leaving behind.

 Because, while I am horrible at moving, I am even worse at change.

Brand New Laptop

We got a new laptop. As you know, these things don't come cheap. Thankfully for us, we got it at a minimal cost. Apparently Julia's computer skills resemble those of her father's and she built one. From scratch.

Looks like the only materials she required were two pieces of paper, tape, and markers. Sheer genius, I tell you.

She even installed the Sesame Street laundry sorting game that Alexa loves so much.

I'm pretty excited to see what else she comes up with. Maybe I should tell her that I need a new blender.

Lessons From First Grade

Most of the time when Julia brings school work home, I look over it and then it goes right into the recycle bin. (Julia, if you are reading this at some later date and are offended, let me just tell you that I promise you will understand when you become a mom. As long as you are over your sneaky little hoarding tendencies by then.) Sometimes there is a gem that I like to keep, and this week there were actually two.

#1 The first was a worksheet about past, present and future. Julia had to write her own sentences using each of the tenses.

Past: "My mom washed the dishes."

Present: "I am in school. My mom washes the dishes."

Future: "My mom will wash the dishes."

I am not sure if this was a generic prompt from the teacher or if she came up with the idea for the sentences entirely on her own. Either way, she seems to think that I am much more involved with dish washing than I actually am.

#2 This one was much more tender for me. Julia was supposed to write a letter to her mom or dad, and she picked me. (Good thing I was done with my daily washing of the dishes so that I had time to read it.)

"Dear, mom

When can we play with the little peple toys. And make a breetend camp fire.

Love,
Julia"

A cute and simple request, right?

What amazes me is that she is talking about something that we did one other time, that we have never done since, and that she has somehow never forgotten. Many moons ago, before Julia was in school and back when Savanna still took naps, we took our Little People camping. They roasted marshmallows over a "breetend" fire, (tiny pieces of cotton taped to toothpicks and then taped to their bodies) set up a clothesline, (not unlike the one we hang when we go camping at the beach) and even swam in a big blue ocean. They had a blast. So did Julia and I. So much fun, in fact, that it is a cherished memory for both of us.

I didn't realize how long ago it was until I looked through the pictures to find them for this post. They were dated March 16, 2009, right before Julia's fourth birthday.

She just turned seven.

I can't decide what I am more thankful for: the fact that Julia still holds dear an afternoon of play from over three years ago, or the fact that, one day, I took the time to give my attention to a little girl whose tinyhood has since vanished. 

Whichever it is, it fills my heart is full to brimming.